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This dissertation reports case studies from in-depth phenomenological interviewing of six individual female university students. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe the influence that literature experiences have had on the identity formation of said participant informants through recursive analysis of their interviews, observing how they negotiated higher education over time. The study began when three of the six young ladies were sophomore students in their undergraduate programs, one was a senior undergraduate, and one was an incoming freshman undergraduate, and it continued into their senior, junior, and sophomore years, respectively. Findings are presented as profiles of the participants’ reports of their higher education experiences in their own words. Findings also are analyzed to delineate the relationship between A.P. Literature and Composition students and identity formation for the participants. Conclusions and implications are presented for instructional and curriculum development, especially for A.P. Literature and Composition at the secondary level.